Actual Films

A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change into the heart of popular culture comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution. Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight, traveling around the world training an army of climate champions and influencing international climate policy. Cameras follow him behind the scenes—in moments private and public, funny and poignant—as he pursues the empowering notion that while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of climate change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion.

Poignant stories of homelessness on the West Coast of the US frame this cinematic portrait of a surging humanitarian crisis.

Three Navy SEALs leave their tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan with treatment-resistant, unrelenting psychological pain. They find themselves at the cutting edge of a different frontline: a lifesaving psychedelic therapy that brings healing to a community in urgent need.

Follow the Indianapolis Star reporters that broke the story about USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar's abuse and hear from gymnasts.

Exploring the dramatic origin story of the climate crisis and how a political battle in the George H.W. Bush administration changed the course of history.

In 1987, Marlee Matlin became the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award and was thrust into the spotlight at 21 years old. Reflecting on her life in her primary language of American Sign Language, Marlee explores the complexities of what it means to be a trailblazer.

World War II was not just the most destructive conflict in humanity, it was also the greatest theft in history: lives, families, communities, property, culture and heritage were all stolen. The story of Nazi Germany's plundering of Europe's great works of art during World War II and Allied efforts to minimize the damage.

A documentary film about three cases of rape, that includes the stories of two American high school students, Audrie Pott and Daisy Coleman. At the time of the sexual assaults, Pott was 15 and Coleman was 14 years old. After the assaults, the victims and their families were subjected to abuse and cyberbullying.

Lost Boys of Sudan is a feature-length documentary that follows two Sudanese refugees on an extraordinary journey from Africa to America. Orphaned as young boys in one of Africa's cruelest civil wars, Peter Dut and Santino Chuor survived lion attacks and militia gunfire to reach a refugee camp in Kenya along with thousands of other children. From there, remarkably, they were chosen to come to America. Safe at last from physical danger and hunger, a world away from home, they find themselves confronted with the abundance and alienation of contemporary American suburbia

Modern technology confronts ancient ritual in this profound and moving documentary. Teenager Chris Apassingok and his Yupik family live in Gambell, Alaska, a tiny village on St. Lawrence island in the Bering Sea. Life there differs vastly from the rest of the US – for one, hunting whales holds the key to the islanders’ survival. Conflict emerges after Chris kills a whale that will feed Gambell’s townspeople for months – and news of the successful hunt reaches the outside world. Facebook trolls and animal-rights activists attack from afar, captured in Pete Chelkowski and environmental journalist Jim Wickens’ captivating film that delves into environmental issues, cultural and generational challenges, and cyberspace hysteria

Art & Science Collide weaves together compelling stories of artists participating in the Getty’s 2024-2025 Southern California art event, PST ART. Exploring the deep, often overlooked connections between two fields commonly seen as opposites — art and science — the film highlights collaborations between artists and scientists in Southern California to address some of humanity’s most urgent challenges, from climate change and space exploration to biodiversity and environmental justice.

As scandals rock the crypto industry, three Web3 startups are selected for a prestigious tech incubator. The brilliant and idealistic founders have three months to hone their technology and create compelling presentations for a room of crypto investors. Shot in a cinema verite style, punctuated by intimate interviews and funny moments, Any Problem Is No Problem upends assumptions about the world of crypto by revealing the histories and motivations of these coders and dreamers as they build on the rails of a new democratized internet.

Drawing upon recently declassified documents, archival footage and behind-the-scenes interviews, "Wonders Are Many: The Making of 'Doctor Atomic'" chronicles the creation of the monumental opera based on the mysterious and paradoxical “father of the atomic bomb,” Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, as his team prepares to detonate the world’s first atomic weapon.

It’s all hands on deck to rescue Florida’s last remaining corals, as a community of scientists and reef guardians unites against climate change and ongoing destruction.

Aspiring Chinese athletes and their international coaches arrive in the island of Hainan. Together, they attempt to become the country’s first Olympic surfers. Surf Nation follows this team and two of China’s top surfers, Alex and Lolo, as they train, compete and discover what they want their lives to be.

Follows the globe-trotting journey of President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, the lowest-lying country in the world, who, after bringing democracy to his country, takes up the fight to keep it from disappearing under the sea.

Spend a day in pre-pandemic San Francisco with Mercedes Weatherford, a quirky woman in her 70's who still works full-time. Over the course of her workday, she reflects on her career and life journey. During this 12 minute portrait, the documentary asks what is the value of work?

The pioneer Jews of San Francisco arrived from Germany during the Gold Rush and were instrumental in building the city. The roles they were relegated to in the Old World -- peddler and petty merchant -- were highly valued in the Gold Rush. The openness of Gold Rush California allowed these Jews to assimilate far more and have a greater impact on the building and defining of a major city than any other Jewish community in America. But this acceptance came at a price -- assimilation put this community in danger of losing its Jewish identity.

Splash, a team within the San Diego Women’s Basketball Association composed of women 85 and up are forever changed by the sisterhood that comes from being in a league of their own.

A cinema verité-style documentary distributed by the BBC, created by Actual Films, that provides a behind-the-scenes look at Annan's work as UN Secretary-General.